


The Derek Hale Show

by Wolves_of_Innistrad



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Angst, F/M, M/M, Pre-Slash, Truman Show AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 20:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4975939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolves_of_Innistrad/pseuds/Wolves_of_Innistrad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek Hale's life, all of its joys and miseries, are the result of one man, Jeff Davis.  Jeff isn't his father though, he's the man controlling everything about his life from behind the scenes, all while raking in money as viewers flock to see Derek's life unfold before their eyes.  From his first breath, the world has watched Derek grow, unbeknownst to him.  Will Derek ever find out the truth?  Will he ever see the people he's loved and lost again once they've been written out of his life?  Only time will tell.</p><p>Or, a The Truman Show au</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Derek Hale Show

 

> _“Jeff Davis announces they’ve finally found a child for his new show. Baby boy will be named Derek and hails from California. No word on when filming will start, but sources say Jeff wants to get every moment of this kid’s life on camera, so it’s likely that we’ll see his first breath before months end.”_
> 
> * * *
> 
>   

          The T.V. flickers in the Stilinski household as John turns it off with a sigh. From the door he sees his wife, hand on her swollen stomach, smiling slightly. She’d signed them up to live in this cockamamie town being created for this show, and honestly John isn’t sure he likes the idea of their unborn child being raised in a reality show. Nevertheless, the baby was a miracle with Claudia’s health, and he wants to do anything to please her, to make her happy. She’d always dreamed of being an actress, the kind that gave back to the world with her fame and money, but life had different plans for her.

          Within a week they’d gotten the call, they were moving into the city. John would be working as a deputy, which he had to admit was a big advancement over his job as a night watchman. Claudia, once she was no longer with child, was set up to work at the elementary school. With her nurturing personality, John had no qualms about that. They arrived only three days before filming started.

* * *

 

 

> _“Entire world tunes in for birth of Derek Hale! First child to be born live on air, simulcast across the world. His first breath was awaited by our own bated breaths, and the world can’t wait to find out what life has in store for this child that we’ve all taken in as our own.”_
> 
> * * *
> 
>  

          The early years of Derek’s life were nothing special. He was a celebrity, the most famous child in the whole world many said, but for him he was just a normal little kid, playing in the mud, running around with the neighborhood children, being tucked in and read a bedtime story by the people he thought were his parents.

          Erik and Talia Hale had been chosen as the parents for Derek after an exhaustive search. They already had one young child, Laura, who tested well with audiences and was already familiar with acting thanks to a few commercials for baby food, diapers and other things. The Hales promised to raise the child as their own, and while they wouldn’t have legal custody and much of Derek’s life would be planned for the next few decades, everyday raring fell to them.

          They’d felt that this child needed parents that would make sure he was loved and cherished, and would protect him as much as they could considering the exceedingly strange life he was bound to have.

* * *

 

          “Mr. Davis, what you are attempting no one in history has ever done before. Not only documenting someone’s entire life, but essentially, creating it. You’ve cast his family, his friends, his teachers, his enemies; his whole life is orchestrated by you and your crew. One question we all have, beyond the obvious one of why, is how you plan on keeping Derek in this bubble you’ve created for him?” the interviewer asked.

          “I don’t believe we’ll need to find any particular way to keep Derek there. Who would ever want to leave a town, a life, built solely around them? Built for them? Critics have argued that I’m megalomaniacal, doing this to a boy who has no say in it, but I see it as a gift. His mother, she was a single parent, young, no way she could have ever given Derek the life I- We are giving him. Sure, we’re documenting it, and yes these are actors, but they’re also real people, it’s not like they don’t have lives in this town, that they are ‘on’ so to speak twenty four seven. No, this is real life, just, as I like to say, a little neater.” Jeff replied readily. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but the interviewer returned it before signing off.

* * *

 

          When Derek was six years old Jeff began his plan to keep Derek form ever wanting to leave town. What would follow would eventually lead to his shows undoing, but at the time he had no idea what would happen. Hubris some would call it, lack of foresight, and the former would be correct. For Davis had so meticulously planned Derek’s life before he was even born, that there was little room for error, for even taking Derek himself into account, because he was going to mold him to do and s ay and think exactly how he wanted him, having the ability to control everyone he interacted with.

          When Derek’s class was set to take a school field trip, Derek was excited. He was young, and while he’d barely explored any of the city, he was thrilled to be going to the next town over. He had no idea it was fake too, written into atlases and maps all around the city to appear as if it really was there, when in fact it only existed for this trip.

          The day of the trip, Talia made sure to affix the little power ranger watch around Derek’s wrist before he left. He didn’t always wear it, but the writers had instructed her he had to today, so she made sure he had it on. “So you’ll never miss the bus if you get separated baby,” his mother had said, kissing his forehead softly before ushering him out the door.

          Isaac, Derek’s best friend, sat next to him on the bus later that day as they headed towards the town line. Isaac was taller than the other kids, owing to the fact he was in fact almost two years older than them, but he had an important role and a cherubic face, so Jeff had Okayed the age difference, simply making it verboten to mention it.

          When he saw the sign declaring they were leaving town, he made sure to lean over and ask Derek for the time.

          “12:57,” Derek answered easily, the time reflected in the small watch as he quickly forgot all about it.

          “Thanks Derek,” Isaac had said, happy he’d gotten his part for the day correct. His father sent rare words of encouragement and praise, along with Jeff, over his small earpiece, and he blushed.

          The rest of the trip went without incident, Derek had fun with Isaac and the others, and the class returned home safe and sound. It wasn’t until the next morning during first period that things began to happen.

          When the students walked in, their teacher, Ms. Kali, was nowhere to be seen. Instead another woman, tall and slender, looking a bit frazzled, sat in her chair. The students all talked over each other once they got seated, but the woman only shushed them. Then the announcements rang out through the school’s PA system.

          “Hello students. This is your Principle, Mr. Deucalion here. We all regret to inform you that yesterday morning we lost one of our own, Ms. Kali was in a car accident at approximately 12:57 yesterday afternoon, and sadly she did not make it. There will be an assembly for her later this afternoon, but for now we ask for a moment of silence for her,” the principal said, before the PA cut out with a slight screech.

          The shocked and horrified looks on the faces of all the children were real, none of them told about this beforehand, many of them, unlike Isaac, simply children living their lives in the town, only informed of things if and when they had any serious interaction with Derek.

          Derek had loved Ms. Kali, she’d been his teacher for the last year and a half, and her loss was not only difficult, but new. He had never experienced that kind of loss before; Jeff had made sure of that. No fish or other short lived pets, no elderly grandparents, nothing that could have prepared young Derek Hale for what happened that morning.

          As Isaac attempted to console Derek while he himself also cried over their teacher, he heard whispering in his ear. He’d been given the earpiece this morning by his father, but not told why or given any instructions, only that he’d be told when he was needed.

          “Once Derek is calm enough, we need you to remind him of the time that you asked for yesterday Isaac,” he heard coming through the earpiece.

          “Whu?” Isaac said, but quickly turned it into a wail before Derek could become suspicious, not that a six year old tended to suspect his entire life was a lie anyway.

          “Once Derek has calmed down a bit we need you to say this line. ‘Derek, isn’t it weird, the time Ms. Kali died was the same time when we crossed over the city line, remember?’ Can you do that for us Isaac?” came a sweet voice in his ear. Isaac had never met the woman who often gave him instructions over the ear piece, but she reminded him of his mother, or what little he remembered of his mother, so he never had any qualms about obeying what she said.

          Nodding slightly, knowing they were being filmed, he waited until Derek calmed down some before working up the courage to say his lines. They were a bit stilted and he wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was close enough that the praise from his father and the woman over the line raised his spirits a bit.

          “I… I guess so?” Derek had sniffled, rubbing at his eyes with his small fists. The tears had yet to dry, his eyes bloodshot, but he was at least able to speak again.

          “It’s, uh, really weird that it would happen ex-ackly when we left town,” Isaac repeated as instructed, giving Derek a said, confused look, as if imploring him to understand.   That had been one of the reasons Isaac had been chosen for the role of Derek’s best friend, his face screamed honesty and was very emotive, something Jeff felt the viewers at home would relate to.

          Derek didn’t answer after that, not sure how to take Isaac’s question. He didn’t have much time to think it over, even if he’d had the capabilities to, because the woman at the front of the class finally spoke to them all after having bene around individually consoling them.

          “Students, I’m Mrs. Stilinski, and for the time being I’ll be taking over for Ms. Kali until we can find a more permanent solution. I am deeply sorry for your loss, she was a great friend of mine and she will be dearly missed,” Claudia said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. This was Claudia’s first real chance to shine as an actress and she was excited, even if it was under such awful circumstances. She had actually known Ms. Kali, so the knowledge she’d be moving away was enough experience to draw from for a rather moving performance she felt. Jeff must have felt the same, because after that day he decided Claudia would stay on as Derek’s teacher for the rest of the year.

* * *

 

          “Can you believe it John!?” Claudia said excitedly through the phone. School had just ended and she’d only stopped to pick up Stiles before calling the station to talk to her husband. Her long hair fell in waves down her back as she turned away from the window out into the hallway, casting her gaze down at her own darling son.

          Stiles sat in the chair, playing with his batman action figure he’d gotten for his birthday, making it jump from the chair’s armrest onto himself. Claudia was just happy he was sitting still for a moment if she was honest.

          “That’s really great darling,” John answered over the phone, smiling as he signed some documents. Despite the city being fake, and the population controlled, there had been a few instances of actual crime in the city, and John had been one of the few people to sing up to take extra classes to become a fully-fledged police officer. Once he’d passed the test, he was officially recognized as the first real deputy of their makeshift city, even if he still had a retired officer acting as the real sheriff above him, he was the highest ranking deputy in the station, so much of the real paperwork, and work in general, fell to him.

          Claudia couldn’t contain her joy, breaking down into tears as she turned back. Her mouth was covered, eyes watering as she watched Derek Hale walking down the hallway with his mother. His eyes stopped on her and she sobered a bit, glancing at him.

          For his part, Derek’s young mind took it as Mrs. Stilinski breaking down over the loss, a loss he understood all too well, and from that moment on he liked her, felt she was a good person. Before he turned away he caught sight of a small boy playing with an action figure sitting in the chair next to her. He thought he’d seen him around before, but he wasn’t in the same class, so Derek didn’t know him by name.

          “I have to go, I’ll see you at home John,” she’d said once Derek was out of sight. “Love you.”

          “Love you too darling,” John replied automatically, but with feeling.

          “Come along Stiles, Mommy and Daddy are going to take you out for ice cream, alright?” Claudia said, clutching her son’s hand in her own.

          “Yay! Ice cream! Batman loves ice cream!” Stiles laughed, smiling up at his mother. As they walked out of the school Stiles turned his big, brown eyes up at his mother. “Mommy, why were you crying?” he asked, always perceptive of the world around him, even when he seemed lost in his own imagination. It was one of the things that truly made her happy, a perfect melding of John’s mind and her spirit.

          Stopping, she kneeled down in front of Stiles. “Honey, sometimes things happen-“

          “Like Ms. Kali dying?” Stiles cut in.

          “Yes, like Ms. Kali dying. And they are tragic and awful, but even when bad things happen to us, even when the world looks like its all dark skies and storms, there is always light on the horizon. Sometimes good things can come from the bad, and that’s why Mommy was crying, because she misses her friend dearly, but she also got good news today too.” Claudia took him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes, those eyes that always looked so much older than he was.

          Stiles paused for a moment, as if to try to contemplate each word she’d said with a puzzled expression, before breaking out into a smile. He nodded once, to indicate he’d understood, and gripped her hand tighter. “I’ll remember mommy,” he said firmly, in that way he always had, imitating his father, and it made Claudia crack another smile.

          “I know you will sweetie, I know you will.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this idea hit me in the shower tongith and I just had to write it. I'm hoping to get more up tonight, but I wanted to post the first chapter I had done now. I hope you all enjoy! If you have any ideas for characters you'd like to see, let me know. I have some planned, but others I have no idea what I'm going to do with, or if they'll appear at all.
> 
> As always, a big thanks to all my Wonderful Readers for all the comments, kudos and subs!


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